BERLIN (AP) – Germany reported a record number of deaths from the coronavirus when it went into a tougher lockdown on Wednesday, closing stores and schools to try to fight stubbornly high new daily infections.
The country registered 179.8 virus infections per 100,000 residents in the past seven days, a new record and significantly more than the 149 per 100,000 reported a week ago by the Robert Koch Institute, the country’s disease control center.
It also blew past the previous daily death toll, with 16 German states reporting 952 more people had died from the virus, the institute said. That was much greater than the previous daily record of 598 deaths on Friday, although it included two days of data from the hard-hit eastern state of Saxony, which did not report Tuesday. It brought the total death toll from a pandemic in the country to 23,427.
“It’s as if the virus wants to remind us how important what we are doing now is,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn of the increase in deaths reported the day new restrictions take effect.
Faced with exponentially increasing cases in October, Germany introduced a “lockdown light” in early November, closing bars and restaurants but keeping shops open. The measures slowed the weekly increase in new infections, but did not bring them back, forcing officials to take more drastic measures.
In addition to closing shops and moving children to distance learning for the few days before the Christmas holidays, private gatherings are limited to two households with a maximum of five people, among other things.
On Berlin’s posh Kurfuerstendamm boulevard, Berlin resident Noury Oeddin looked around in disbelief at the empty streets and shutters of shops as the lockdown measures announced on Sunday took effect.
“It’s very strange, it’s not normal,” said the 46-year-old bakery manager. “I don’t know what these politicians want to do – they left it all open for too long and now we suddenly had to buy everything quickly in two days. We humans no longer know what they are doing. “
However, retired Hans-Joachim Pauer said the measures were understandable.
“This is certainly damaging to the economy, but what alternative do we have?” the 71-year-old asked. “It is certainly not good.”
Supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, and other businesses that provide services that are considered essential – including Christmas tree vendors – can remain open.
In Saxony, where the virus is currently spreading fastest in Germany, hospitals are becoming full. The state governor said more drastic restrictions might be needed, calling it “pure poison” if too many people were still on the road.
The restrictions are expected until at least January 10, but are widely supported, with the latest polls showing that more than 80% of Germans either approve the lockdown measures or think they should be stricter.
“This year I don’t think Christmas is that important given the facts we currently have in society,” said Stella Kretschmer, who picked up a recipe in the western city of Cologne.
The 27-year-old student said she was in favor of closing stores.
“For me, consumption is not the most important thing,” she said, adding that she “feels sorry for the people who … have to fear for their jobs.”
Germany was widely praised for slowing the spread of its outbreak in the spring, but as people became lax with their distance and masking rules over the summer, the number of cases started to rise again.
While daily new cases peaked at about 6,000 in March, they are now more than four times higher, with 27,728 new cases reported by the Robert Koch Institute on Wednesday.
German officials have pushed hard for the European Union regulator to speed up the approval of a coronavirus vaccine, and the European Medicines Agency has scheduled a meeting on Monday. With vaccinations expected to begin before the end of the year, German officials have urged people to remain patient and respect the regulations during the holidays.
Spahn, the health minister, said Germany was ready and could begin vaccinations within two to four days of EMA approval.
“These are difficult days and at the same time they are days that give rise to optimism, to give hope, because there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he told lawmakers. “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic and we are well prepared for it.”
Authorities in Berlin said late Wednesday that Spahn had briefed health officials from the country’s 16 states of progress in obtaining regulatory approval for the vaccine by BioNTech and Pfizer, and plans to ship it.
“The states conclude that December 27 will be the start date for vaccinations,” the Berlin health office said in a statement. “In particular, vaccination should start in nursing homes.”
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Dorothee Thiesing and Frank Jordans contributed to this story.
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